Shadow's Second Chance
by JustAGoose-Feather Quill
Summary: "I'm Maria, Maria the hedgehog." At the mention of her name, Shadow's eyes snapped open to stare at the blonde hedgehog before him. Set after Sonic X, Shadow, Sonic and co. face a new threat who prove to be more dangerous than the Meterex. With Maria the hedgehog joining the team, can Shadow cope and work out what the Rophiicks are after before it's too late? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Hi there everyone. Thank-you for kindly taking time out of your busy lives to read my 2nd story for the Sonic The Hedgehog category.

This story is about Shadow the hedgehog given a second chance to save Maria. That's a quick way to sum it up-so quick it's not completely accurate. I'm just going to stop talking now and let you read to find out what this story is really about.

Disclaimer: I do not, REPEAT do NOT own Shadow the hedgehog nor do I own Sonic and co. or Mobius ect. They'll all belong to SEGA. 

Now then, on with the show…

**Chapter One-The Haunting Memory**

The shouts of the government soldiers filled the ship. Startled shouts of fear sounded in every room. The black hedgehog held tightly onto the young girl's hand as they ran as fast as they could through the ARK. The sound of many footsteps followed the red-striped hedgehog and the blonde-haired girl.

"Shadow, they're catching up!" the girl panted fearfully to the black hedgehog.

"Hang on Maria, don't let go of my hand" Shadow answered the frightened girl over his shoulder.

"Hey, you there, HALT!" A soldier shouted to the two runaways. Shadow felt Maria's pace slowing rapidly.

"Shadow, I can't keep up" she cried.

Shadow glanced back at Maria. She looked exhausted. Behind her several government soldiers were gaining on them. Shadow took one last look at Maria's fearful expression before stopping suddenly. He swept Maria off her feet and carried her bridal style.

"Don't worry Maria, I've got you" the coal black hedgehog assured the young girl as he accelerated his pace. Within seconds the soldiers were far behind the speedy hedgehog.

"We've lost them" Shadow said slowing down. He put Maria (who had regained some of her strength) down and led her through a door.

"Shadow, what about grandfather? I think those soldiers have captured him!" Maria said. She feared the worst for her grandfather. Shadow also feared for the Professor's safety.

"Don't worry. I'll go find him once you're safe" Shadow promised. Shadow quickly led Maria through a maze of corridors. Several times they almost ran into more soldiers.

"Shadow, we need to get to the escape pods" Maria whispered. Shadow nodded in agreement. The two friends silently crept by the research labs. In each laboratory soldiers had rounded up all the scientists and were now carefully shutting down the experiments. Eventually they came to the open door of the last research lab in the corridor. Shadow peeked inside to make sure no one was looking. When he made sure the soldiers weren't looking, he and Maria ran past the open door.

The movement caught the eye of one of the G.U.N soldiers. The soldier, somewhere in his late twenties, turned his head in time to see a young, blonde-haired girl run past the door.

"Hey, STOP!" he yelled and ran after the girl.

Shadow and Maria ran as fast as they could to the escape pods. They didn't see the soldier coming after them until Maria glanced back to see if they were being followed. She gasped when she saw the soldier chasing after them.

"Shadow, there's a soldier coming after us!" she cried. Fear gave her more strength to run faster. Shadow felt Maria's pace quicken. A door was coming up.

"The escape Pods are just ahead" he told her over his shoulder. Shadow reached the door with the soldier less than twenty metres away. The red-striped hedgehog quickly typed in the code to open the door. As soon as he and Maria were inside the Escape Pods room, he locked the door.

Maria knew that the government attack was to capture her friend, Shadow. Feeling a great need to protect Shadow, Maria quickly pushed Shadow into an Escape Pod. Before Shadow realised what Maria was doing, the Escape Pod's door sealed closed. Shadow looked through the clear wall of the Pod to Maria who had already set his Pod's course to Earth.

"MARIA!" Shadow cried. Maria had her hands on the lever that would eject the Pod. She had her eyes on Shadow.

"Shadow, we've always dreamed of going down to Earth together, but it looks like you'll have to go there without me." Shadow felt himself tensing up.

"No Maria. Don't do this!" Shadow begged her. Before either of the two friends could say another word, the door to the Escape Pods room opened. A soldier took in the black hedgehog in the Escape Pod and the girl with both her hands on the lever.

"Stop! Back away from that lever!" the soldier ordered. Maria looked at the soldier and his gun that was pointed at her. She looked down at the lever then at Shadow. His pleading eyes begged her not to pull the lever.

'Shadow. This is for you' she thought. Then with both hands, Maria pulled the lever. A single gunshot went off.

Maria gasped in pain.

"MARIA!" Shadow screamed.

The soldier dropped his gun.

"What have I done!" he thought horrified. Too ashamed of himself to help the girl, the soldier ran off, leaving Maria to die.

Shadow looked in horror as Maria, his only friend, fell to the ground.

"MARIA!" he cried in agony. Maria lifted her head to look at her closest friend.

"Shadow, please promise me…that you'll help people and be friends with them." The young girl lifted a shaking hand to Shadow.

"MARIA!" Shadow cried again. He couldn't bear to watch Maria slowly die.

"I'm sure you'll be very happy down there Shadow. I only wish that I could go along with you. The world looks so beautiful from up here in space, but my grandfather says that the people who live there have to face many problems. That's why you were created, to help those people and to be their friend. Please promise me this" Maria begged the black hedgehog.

"Maria, I…I promise" Shadow promised his dyeing friend.

"Shadow, I could never have asked for a better friend than you. I'm sorry this is how our last chance together is. But don't worry. I will always be with you, Shadow" Maria finished.

"No. Please Maria, don't leave me!" Shadow begged the girl.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog" Maria said before the Escape Pod ejected.

"MARIA!" The cry of Shadow was the last thing Maria heard before she closed her eyes forever.

Shadow collapsed to the floor in grief. The pain he felt was too much for him.

"Maria" he whispered her name one more time for the fifty years to come. Then he passed out.

"MARIA!" Shadow sat bolt upright in a flash. He felt himself sweating and breathing hard. Looking around, he realised he was still in the same cave he had chosen to spend the night in. The fire he had made was completely out. Calming himself with slow, deep breaths, Shadow repeatedly told himself it was just another dream. The mouth of the cave was beginning to lighten up as dawn chased the night away.

Shadow slowly got to his feet. He felt unsettled by his dream. Walking over to the mouth of the cave, Shadow tried to forget the dream. It was just an old memory, haunting him.

"_That's the fifth time I've had that dream over the last seven weeks. Why can't I get it out of my head? I've chosen to move on from Maria. Why do I think about her now, after so many years?_" the black hedgehog wondered. Looking out to the horizon, Shadow noticed the sun was halfway up, above the land. The cave in which Shadow had slept in was surrounded by thick forest. Far off in the distance, towns populated the planet every few miles. Not far from the closest town, a space ship called _'Foreigner' _was being loaded with fresh supplies. A line of different creatures from a variety of different planets were signing up for safe passage on the ship. The space ship carried passengers and cargo to different planets. Shadow had secretly been stowing away on the ship as it journeyed through the many galaxies of the Universe. Ever since the coal black hedgehog had chaos controlled the planet egg along with himself to the middle of no where (Sonic X Season 3 episode 78 4kids version), had been trying to find his way back to Planet Earth. He wasn't sure why, but he had a great urge to return to his home planet. The travelling had gone faster than Shadow had expected the ship to travel.

You might be, on the slightest chance, wondering how Shadow had survived the chaos control that had taken up all of his remaining energy (as it says in the 4kids version of Sonic X episode 78). Well, a split seconde after chaos control, the planet egg exploded. Shadow had appeared a safe distance away from the exploding egg. When he saw the great explosion, he passed out. He floated out in space for an hour or so before he was picked up by a passing ship. After quickly recovering all of his strength, Shadow returned back to the planet in which the girl Molly had lived. And as it shows in the Japanese version of Sonic X, Shadow put a rose down by Molly's marker. Not far off from the area, the _Foreigner _was just taking off. Shadow had managed to hold onto one chaos emerald, and he then used it to chaos control onto the ship as a stow-away. Ever since then, the red-striped hedgehog had been stowing away on the ship as it travelled to planets across the Universe.

Shadow stood still for another moment before running/skating through the thick forest to the _Foreigner_. When Shadow arrived at the ship, he went over to the person signing up passengers.

"Where is the ship off to?" Shadow demanded. The person looked up at Shadow.

"It's on course to Mobius and the Planet Kijad. After that we're circling back to Planet Whisp" the person answered.

"What about planet Earth?" Shadow asked.

"Planet Earth? We skip that planet, everyone does. The inhibitors there are really protective of their planet. They capture any foreigner that goes within an inch of their galaxy" the person said. Shadow walked off without another word.

"_Strange little fella" _the person thought to himself before continuing on with his job.

Shadow felt a great wave of disappointment.

"_Will I ever find a way back to Earth?"_ the coal black hedgehog wondered.

"Attention all passengers boarding the Foreigner, the ship will leave in five minutes!" the pilot of the space ship shouted. Shadow continued to walk back to the cover of the forest. After going deep enough into the thick vegetation so that no one could see him, he took out the green chaos emerald.

"Chaos Control!" the red-striped hedgehog said in a strong voice. Immediately the black hedgehog disappeared from the forest and re-appeared in the cargo hold of the '_Foreigner_'. Shadow ducked down behind a pile of crates as the last of the supplies were loaded. Then the big doors of the ship closed, leaving Shadow shrouded in darkness. Making his way over to the side of the ship, Shadow soon found a window large enough to match the size of an African Elephant's head that he had discovered on his first trip in the Cargo Hold. He moved the crates blocking the window to let what little light there was, evade some of the darkness. It didn't help a real lot, but it was better than nothing.

"Attention all boarding the 'Foreigner', the ship is leaving in one minute!" the pilot bellowed again. Shadow made his way over to the middle of the cargo hold where the back landing wheels of the ship was positioned. There was an opening for the wheels of the ship for when they folded into the ship. Shadow looked out through the open space and jumped into a spot in which he could stand on the wheels for the take-off. 60 seconds later, the big space ship's powerful engines started up. The Foreigner started its take-off by slowly gathering speed along a runway. Shadow felt the wind slice through his quills. It whistled in his ears. The space ship slowly took off from the planet's soft earthy ground. When the ship was above a mile up into the sky, the landing wheels folded into the ship. Shadow jumped off the back wheel and made a makeshift chair out of crates. He let the gentle humming of the Foreigner's engines send him into a light sleep for the Space ship's long journey to Mobius.

* * *

><p>Well there you have it folks-chapter one.<p>

I forgot to mention that the lines that Maria says before she dies are mostly from Sonic X. I wrote everything else. I hope you liked it. If you didn't, bit of a shame I still hope you review. Please please please please please review! Every author loves reviews whether it's good or bad. Please press on the blue button down there…

T.T.F.N (Ta Ta For Now)

SierraZanimalini14


	2. Chapter 2: The Rophiicks!

Hiya everybody! I'm so, so sorry I took so long to update! I was going through a bit of writer's block, and for those of you who are reading and reviewing my other story, 'Lightning the Hedgehog', I'm so sorry for the wait! I'm still planning the next chapter.

Anyways, Hope you all enjoy this chapter; sorry if there isn't a lot that happens. I've got a great idea of what I'm most likely going to do for the next few chapters, although I still have a bit of planning to do.

Disclaimer: I do not, REPEAT do NOT own Shadow the hedgehog nor do I own Sonic and co. or Mobius, ECT. They'll all belong to SEGA-except for Maria the Hedgehog; I don't know who she belongs to. All I know is that she's pretty much fan made-I think. 

She looks like she's an actual character though. I think SEGA should make another season of Sonic X and this time add Silver and Blaze into it and they should do something with Maria the Hedgehog. I mean I know Sonic X is meant to basically be all about Sonic, hence the name Sonic X, Sonic heroes etc, but a lot of people want to see more of Shadow too! Sorry, I'm getting carried away…

Now then…on with the show…

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two-The Rophiicks!<strong>

The wind sliced through the hedgehog's quills. His feet moving so fast and swiftly it was impossible to tell one red shoe from the other, as the blue blur sped along. The blue hedgehog was running at incredibly high speeds for the thrill of it. He felt content and at peace as he ran along the green grass, leaving it to sway in his wind.

"_Nothing can be better than this"_ he thought happily. Up ahead, flying high above the ground was a plane he knew all too well, 'The Tornado'. Sonic spotted his closest friend at the controls and a familiar pink hedgehog in the back seat. The pink hedgehog spotted Sonic and waved to him. Sonic waved back as Tails swiftly brought the plane alongside his blue friend.

"Hi Sonic!" the twin-tailed fox called above the noise of the plane's powerful engine.

"What's up Tails? Hey Amy!" Sonic greeted his two friends whilst effortlessly keeping up with the fast plane.

"We spotted something odd down by Angel Island. We're not sure, but it could be Eggman again. I thought you'd want to come and check it out" Tails shouted.

"Sounds like fun" Sonic commented and forward flipped onto the wing of the blue plane. The Tornado lifted up into the blue sky and headed for Angel Island.

oO0Oo

A small army of dark beings were lined along the edge of the land, awaiting commands to raid the floating island before them. These dark beings were covered in black metal armour. Their helmets were shaped like the head of some sort of rhinoceros or dinosaur with two horns on top, one smaller than the other. Their helmets had two glowing red eyes and blood-red spikes going down the backs of the black creatures. Large tails like that of a kangaroo dragged along the grass-covered ground. The row of red spikes ran down to the very tip of their tails. On their backs, they carried a weapon or two each. The weapons ranged from large axes with sharp, shiny, silver metal on both sides, there were big clubs, odd looking hammers with pointy ends, base and chains and sharp pointed spears that were made out of super sharp, solid steel.

There were about 150 soldiers ready to attack the island. A black armoured beast with a green cape stood with his commander in front of the small army.

"General Armande, the scout team has located the energy source. They've reported that the gem is in a stone ruin towards the centre of the island. But there was some sort of red figure guarding it. No other life forms were spotted" the commander reported to the general.

The large, caped rhino/dinosaur-like creature thought this information over.

"_This guardian must be strong if he is by himself, unless there are others on the island. This battle isn't going to be too easy"_ he thought before turning to four other leaders, standing in front of their team groups.

"The energy source is located in the middle of the island. The scout teams have reported a red creature appears to be guarding it" the general said. The four leaders listened carefully.

"There are possibly other Mobians on the island, although none were seen. We'll need a diversion to distract them. I will go with teams 1, 2 and 3 to attack this red enemy and draw all the attention to ourselves. Team 4 will go in from behind and take the energy source. Failure is not an option" the green caped general explained. The four leaders nodded and turned to their teams to give their instructions. When all were quiet and ready, the small army warped onto the floating island.

oO0Oo

Sonic, Tails and Amy neared Angel Island. The three friends looked around the coast for anything unusual.

"I don't see anything Tails" Sonic called to his friend. The plane had circled the floating island three times now and there was no sign of any unusual activities. Tails frowned.

"Maybe, whatever it was we saw, are somewhere on Angel Island now" Amy suggested. Sonic looked down at the floating island.

"Let's check it out" Sonic said and the Tornado turned to fly over Angel Island.

oO0Oo

Four teams of black-armoured figures silently made their way towards the centre of the floating island. They hid in the shadows, their black armour camouflaging in the shadows of the vegetation. Only red orbs could be seen if one were to look in their direction.

When the raiding army came to a clearing with the ruins of an ancient stone temple, Armande signalled to the fourth team to circle round and wait for his signal. Armande waited until all teams were in position and ready to attack. His red eyes quickly scanned the clearing. He saw a giant, light green gem at the top of the ruined shrine. A small red figure was lying down in a relaxed position on the steps leading up to the glowing gem.

"This should be easy" the black leader thought.

The general looked to the other three leaders, making sure they were ready. The three black leaders watched their general, awaiting their next command. Armande looked back at the red creature and pulled out his weapon-a GIANT, double sided axe.

"CHARGE!" he shouted and led the raiding army towards the shrine.

oO0Oo

Knuckles was relaxing, enjoying the sun as it shone brightly down on the planet, warming it to the smallest blade of grass. The red echidna felt a small twinge of unease. A small feeling in his gut told him something was watching him. The tough echidna looked out to the trees around him, violet eyes scanned the forest for something that might be hiding in the trees. When he saw nothing, he shrugged and continued relaxing, pushing the feeling of unease aside.

"CHARGE!" the battle cry had Knuckles on his feet in a super sonic second. He saw a black creature with a large weapon charge out of the trees. The hot-headed echidna watched as more black creatures followed. They all ran out of the cover of the trees towards him.

"What now?" Knuckles wondered. As the black creatures came closer the red echidna frowned and glanced back at the Master emerald.

"_After the Master Emerald, are they? Well, they'll have to get through me first!"_ Knuckles thought angrily and charged down the steps of the shrine with a battle cry. His spiked fists appeared to be a bit bigger than normal as he threw a punch forward at the first few attackers that came within hitting range. Three black, armed beasts went flying through the air and landed in the trees. They were soon followed by two more as Knuckles threw his other fist at more attackers that were too slow to swing their weapons at Knuckles.

The sound of a familiar plane engine filled the air. Knuckles caught sight of a blue-and-yellow plane swooping in to land.

"Sonic's here" he thought slightly relieved. The red echidna dodged a swinging weapon and swung his fist. The black attacker dodged the angry echidna's attack and managed to swing his weapon again. Knuckles blocked the black creature's attack with one fist and swung his other spiked 'hand'. This time his fist connected with a jaw, sending the black beast sailing through the air.

oO0Oo

Sonic Tails and Amy kept their gazes on the island below them, looking for any sign of trouble. Sonic was beginning to tire of the search until something caught his eye. Several black forms went flying through the air and landed in the trees shortly after.

"What was that?" Sonic wondered, catching the attention of Tails and Amy.

"What's wrong Sonic?" Amy asked her blue hero. Sonic didn't answer and scanned the area from which the black bodies had come from. He spotted more of the black creatures in a clearing. They appeared to be fighting a small red figure. Sonic immediately recognised his friendly rival Knuckles.

"Tails, Down there" Sonic shoutedpointing down to where the fight was going on. Tails' eyes followed Sonic's pointed finger to the ruins of the Matser Emerald clearing. His eyes widened when he saw Knuckles battling the black creatures by himself.

"Prepare to land!" the fox called to his two friends and brought the plane down towards land, aiming for the clearing. The plane came low over the fighting enemies.

"I'll get off here" Sonic said and winked at Tails. He jumped off the Plane's wing, curled into a ball and started Homing-attacking the black creatures. Tails landed the Tornado and jumped out, followed by Amy who had her piko-piko hammer at the ready. Tails grabbed some sort of large gun from a small compartment in the Tornado. The two brave heroes ran into the battle field, Amy swinging her hammer like crazy and Tails shooting like a mad-man. Sonic managed to fight his way through the black beings to Knuckles, who was redder than usual.

"Hey Knuckles" Sonic greeted his friendly rival.

"What took you so long?" Knuckles asked punching another black creature sky high.

"Nice to see you too" Sonic smirked while homing-attacking another evil guy.

While our favourite heroes were fighting, the fourth alien team snuck up to the aged shrine, keeping their eyes on the glowing gem. As they reached the steps that led up to the glowing gem, they were halted by a pink hedgehog with a rather large hammer.

"Not so fast" she said raising her hammer, ready to strike. The team hesitated slightly before charging forward. Amy swung her hammer hard at the first few attackers, sending them flying through the air. The other black creatures readied their weapons and continued to charge the tough hedgehog.

"Take THAT!" the pink hedgehog cried as she hit two more enemies into the air. She continued to swing her big hammer, but her attackers kept on coming. She was slowly getting pushed back, up the stairs towards the Master Emerald. The pink hedgehog began to get desperate and swung her hammer faster and harder, but this only tired her out quicker. The black creatures came at the pink hedgehog with growing confidence. One finally succeeded in knocking Amy off her feet. Amy fell on her back, hitting the hard rock with an "Oof". The black creature that had knocked her over, advanced on her. Before Amy could get back on her feet, the black creature swung his weapon, sending the pink hedgehog rolling down the stairs of the shrine. She came to a stop on the green grass. Too exhausted to get back up, Amy lay where she was, eventually closing her eyes as she fell unconscious.

The rest of the team of black creatures quickly grabbed the glowing gem. They were about to make their escape when an angry voice stopped them…

"LEAVE THE MASTER EMERALD ALONE!" the angry shout made the team pause in slight fear. Knuckles came charging up the Master Emerald shrine. He was much redder than usual and seemed to be surrounded in a slight red glow. The angry echidna threw a really hard punch at the black creatures, hitting several of them sky high. The Dinosaur-like creatures didn't have time to aim a strike with their weapons, because Knuckles' other fist came swinging around and hit half of the team back into the forest. The remaining creatures managed to get their weapons out, but before they could say 'Arrgh', Knuckles had used both of his spikey fists to hit the remaining creatures a mile away-literally.

Sonic was having a rather 'fun' time with the leader of the black rhinos. The general was a good challenge for our blue hero, maybe too good. His fighting skills along with years of experience matched Sonic's speed and hard attacks.

The blue hedgehog homing-attacked the black leader. The black creature's giant axe blocked the spiky-spinning ball. The two were locked in that position.

"You fight well, blue warrior. The Rophiicks could use your speed and agility" the black leader said, offering the blue hedgehog to join him. Sonic gave up trying to break through the axe. He flipped backwards and landed gracefully on his feet.

"No thanks. I'm good" the blue hero said motioning the leader to attack with his hand.

"Pity. I guess you'll have to die along with the rest of your friends. No one will stand in our way forever" the black leader said before charging forward. Sonic barely managed to dodge the swinging axe. It grazed his right arm, leaving a red gash. Blood immediately started to pour out. Sonic felt the sting of the new wound and clenched his teeth, trying to ignore it. The black general noticed Sonic's pained look and gave a twisted smile before lunging forward again. This time, Sonic jumped up above the black leader and homing-attacked him from there. Just before he hit the armoured alien, Sonic unrolled and brought his foot down over the metal helmet. The unexpected attack caught the black lord off-guard and sent him skidding back a couple of metres. The black creature grunted and managed a sitting position. He held a hand to his head where Sonic had struck him. The blue hedgehog walked up to the black creature, stopping at a safe distance.

"There's no point. You should give up now. My friends and I have defeated your army. You're out-matched. The black leader looked around to see his army of 150 Rophiicks, reduced to less than 20 who were still fighting. The General looked back at the blue warrior in anger.

"Who are you?" he demanded. His voice was angry but had a hint of curiosity in it. Sonic smirked.

"I'm just a guy with a need for speed. They call me Sonic the Hedgehog" the blue hero answered with a grin.

"You're a worthy opponent, Sonic the Hedgehog, but nothing can stand in our way! Rophiicks, retreat" The black leader called to the survivors of his army.

"We'll meet again soon, Sonic" the defeated general spat out Sonic's name.

"Wouldn't miss it" the blue hero smirked. Then surprisingly, the black creature disappeared. Thoroughly surprised by the black Lord's disappearance, Sonic looked around to see the rest of the black creatures disappear also.

"_Rophiicks... interesting. I'll have to ask Tails to look into that"_ Sonic thought. He looked around to make sure his friends were alright. He saw Knuckles with the Master Emerald; Tails was looking around at the scene, picking up dropped items from the black alien's armour and weapons. Amy was…AMY!

"AMY!" Sonic shouted, getting the attention of Tails and Knuckles. The three heroes looked around for the pink hedgehog. Sonic glanced around worriedly. His eyes darted around the clearing frantically until they spotted a lump of pink behind the Master Emerald shrine.

"AMY!" sonic cried and ran over to her. Tails spotted the pink hedgehog and followed his blue buddy. Knuckles ran down the shrine and joined his two friends.

"Is she alright?" he asked. Sonic knelt down by his unconscious friend. He let out a relieved sigh when he saw the faint rise and fall of her chest.

"I think she's alright" he said and picked up the petite hedgehog in his arms, bridal style.

"We should take her back home. She might need urgent medical attention" Tails said. His blue eyes caught sight of Sonic's bleeding wound on his arm.

"And you too" the calm fox said. Sonic glanced at his arm and shrugged.

"I'm alright. It doesn't hurt that much" the blue hero lied. The deep cut felt like it was on fire. Tails eyed his blue buddy. Sonic's green eyes looked down at Amy, avoiding his friend's gaze.

"We need to make sure Amy's alright first" Sonic said. Tails looked down at the pink hedgehog and nodded in agreement.

"We'll go to my house" the fox said. With one more glance at Sonic's arm, he went off to start the Tornado. Sonic looked back at Knuckles.

"I'll come along. Those beasts won't be coming back any time soon" he said. Sonic smirked at the red echidna in agreement before following Tails back to the Tornado, Amy still in his arms. The plane's engine's started up as Knuckles and Sonic ran over to the blue plane. Sonic carefully placed Amy in the back seat and then he jumped onto one wing of the plane. Knuckles climbed onto the other. Tails quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure everyone was ready for take-off and then he lifted the Tornado into the sky, heading for Tails' place.

oO0Oo

Just out of the healthy planet's atmosphere, a battle ship waited. In a dark room with several large windows that overlooked the big planet, a red-caped creature stood. His glowing orange eyes scanned the healthy planet, taking in its colours and patterns. The black beast had two horns that stood tall on his head. He wore a black cape that was red on the inside (like a magicians cape). He had a sharp row of spikes run down his head and back and then finish at the tip of his tail.

The black beast was awaiting the return of his raiding party. He had sent them out almost an hour ago to capture a large energy source that was needed to complete their evil plan.

His silence was interrupted when a door slid open and someone walked in. Without turning around the beast addressed his general,

"What news do you bring me, General Armande?" General Armande kneeled before speaking,

"Master Tryant, the raiding expedition has failed. We weren't strong enough to defeat our enemies."

"Who were our opposes?" Master Tryant asked. His voice dangerously low. The general gulped before replying,

"Our enemies were too strong for us. There was a red echidna, a fox with two tails, a pink hedgehog and…a blue hedgehog" Armande's voice was a little shaky and nervous, but it did harden a bit when he mentioned the blue hedgehog. The black master turned around and walked over to the kneeling general.

"Only four? The powerful Rophiicks were beaten by four Mobians?" Master Tryant loomed over the shaking general.

"Y-yes sir, they-" he was cut off when Master Tryant's clawed fist connected with the side of his head.

"A raiding army of 150 Rophiicks were defeated by FOUR Mobians! What a disgrace! You've just ruined the fear that strikes other beings hearts when they hear the name!" the angry Master's voice shouted.

"Our enemies now know what we're after. They'll be prepared for our next attack. Now the plan must be re-scheduled unless we get what we came for within the next two days!" Master Tryant grabbed Armande by his black armour and pulled him up. He brought his fist back, ready to strike again.

"Tell me general, who dares challenge the greatness of the Rophiicks!" the angry beast asked. General Armande shakily replied,

"There was a blue hedgehog among them. His speed and skills were too great. He called himself 'Sonic the Hedgehog'" the general closed his red eyes tight and prepared for the beating to come. It never came.

"Sonic" Master Tryant repeated the name. His voice was full of anger. His eyes were distant, as if remembering something, then they focused on the shaking general. The black master's fist didn't lower, instead several rows of sharp, metal spikes appeared on his wrist. In a flash, Master Tryant racked his small weapon across General Armande's face, causing the general to cry out in pain. A green slime came out of the new wounds that would scar.

"Let that be a warning. Never fail me again-or else a much more terrible fate will be yours" Master Tryant warned. He left the moaning general and exited the star gazing room. The black beast walked down a dark corridor, the only sound was the echoes of his steps. At the end of the corridor, there was a door. The door opened automatically. Inside were a screen and a small circle. Master Tryant walked into the circle, immediately the screen showed a picture of a black Rophiick. His horns were completely blood-red. His eyes were piercing and showed anger and were also red.

"King Balel, I have urgent news. Retrieving the energy source has failed. We need back-up and more time" Master Tryant said. His voice was confident and respectful.

"Failed? How has this happened?" the Rophiick king demanded.

"My forces came up against some unexpected Mobians. Among them was a powerful warrior. He goes by the name, Sonic the Hedgehog" Tryant answered gravely. The king was silent for a moment.

"This is disturbing news, Lord Tryant. This hedgehog can ruin our plans, just as he did our friends, the Meterex. We must get rid of this threat before he finds out our plans. Lord Alarik has notified me that the key is heading towards the planet. I will send him to help you defeat this Sonic. Report to me any further progress" the Rophiick said.

"Yes my lord. I shall not fail you" Master Tryant said. Then with that the screen disappeared. Master Tryant stood up and exited the room. Now he must wait for back-up to come.

**Tails' House/work shop**

Amy slowly gained consciousness again. She was faintly aware of a voice saying her name. The voice was soothing and one she knew all too well.

"Sonic?" she whispered, saying her hero's name. The pink hedgehog's eyes slowly blinked open.

"Amy? Amy, are you alright?" Amy's eyes regained their focus and a blue hedgehog with concern-filled eyes stood over her.

"Sonic?" she mumbled again. The blue warrior's green eyes flooded with relief.

"Amy, it's alright. I'm here. Do you feel okay?" Sonic asked. Amy sat up and quickly recognised her surroundings.

"Why are we at Tails' house?" she asked. Her confused eyes spotted Knuckles standing behind her.

"You were unconscious after the battle. Tails piloted us to his house" Sonic explained. He waited for the confused look in Amy's eyes to clear before repeating his first question.

"I feel fine" the pink hedgehog answered. Her eyes held Sonic's relief filled ones until she caught sight of a white bandage wrapped around his right arm.

"You're hurt!" she gasped. Sonic's eyes glanced down at his arm before he shrugged Amy's concerned expression off.

"It's nothing" he said turning so his other side faced Amy. Amy was about to protest when Tails came into the room.

"Did you find anything?" Knuckles asked, speaking up for the first time. Tails warily shook his head.

"Nothing" Sonic let out a sigh. Knuckles frowned and crossed his arms. Amy glanced at all the Sonic heroes.

"What's going on?" she asked, not wanting to be left in the dark.

"I brought some weapons that the attackers had left behind. I've tried using them to try and find out some information as to who those monsters were, but I've had no luck" Tails explained. Amy cocked her head.

"So we bet those strange aliens?" she questioned. Sonic nodded.

"Sent them running home" he commented with a grin. Amy couldn't help but give a smile at the blue blur's cockiness.

"Whoever those freaks were, they were after the Master Emerald. I'm sure they'll be back again, and soon" Knuckles growled.

"And with stronger forces" Tails added.

"Well I guess we'd better be ready for them" Sonic said.

"It would help if we knew more about them" Amy said. The four friends were silent again. Sonic thought back to when he was fighting the monster's leader.

"Didn't he say something about themselves?" The blue hero racked his brains trying to remember what the black beast had said to him…

"You fight well, blue warrior. The Rophiicks could use your speed and agility…"

"That's it!" Sonic cried, startling Amy, Knuckles and Tails.

"What's wrong Sonic?" Amy asked her blue hero. Sonic looked at the questioning expressions his friends gave him.

"When I was fighting their leader, he said something about 'no one getting in the way of the 'Rophiicks'" Sonic said. He looked up at his buddy Tails. "Do you think you could find something with that name?" Sonic asked. Tails had a hard-thinking look on his face.

"Actually, I think I might remember that name from somewhere…" Tails murmured and scratched his head. Sonic, Amy and Knuckles glanced at each other confused. Tails spent a few more moments thinking before it all came to him,

"Wait a second! I remember now! The Rophiicks were associated with the Meterex. I first heard about the Rophiicks a little after we succeeded in the war with the Meterex. They had secretly been helping the Meterex in their crazy quest for universal domination. The Meterex had promised the Rophiicks freedom and power in exchange for their loyalty and help. But after we defeated the Meterex, the Rophiicks started attacking other planets. They were in search of something powerful and wanted to rule the Universe. The Rophiicks were very powerful and sought after Universal dominance" Tails said, sharing all of his knowledge of the new enemy race. Sonic and Knuckles glanced at each other.

"Universal dominance, huh. That's not surprising" Sonic commented.

"What do you mean they were 'looking for a powerful source'?'" Knuckles asked.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I think the Rophiicks were looking for something really powerful that would give them enough power to overcome all their enemies" Tails explained.

"So then this 'powerful source' is the Master Emerald?" Knuckles asked (obviously not that bright).

"Well considering that the Rophiicks just tried to take the Master Emerald, I think so" Tails confirmed.

"If those creeps think that they can get with in a metre of the Master Emerald without getting my fists in their faces, they'd better think again" Knuckles growled.

"Should we move the Master Emerald to a different location?" Amy suggested.

"Absolutely not! The Master Emerald is not leaving Angel Island!" Knuckles practically shouted.

"But Knuckles, those monsters will be back, we shouldn't take any chances" Amy protested. Knuckles put on a sulky face.

"She's right Knuckles. Would you rather the Master Emerald in the wrong hands or Angel Island coming to land-or sea?" Sonic asked the quick-tempered echidna. He took a few moments of thinking before hesitantly agreeing.

"Where should we move it?" Amy asked. The two hedgehogs, echidna and fox thought hard.

"A place that's close to us and won't be easy to find…I've got it!" Tails cried. Amy Sonic and Knuckles looked at the fox waiting for his solution.

"We could move the Master Emerald to those old tunnels that Sonic and I discovered a little while ago!" Tails suggested. Sonic's face brightened.

"That's a great idea Tails. They're only half a mile away form here" Sonic agreed. Knuckles narrowed his eyes, considering the idea.

"Don't worry Knuckles, The Master Emerald will be perfectly safe there" Amy assured the guardian.

"Fine" he muttered.

"Great! Now that that problem is solved, we should have a way to contact each other if any one of us is in trouble. I'll be right back" Tails said. The young fox left the room, entering again a few moments later with some new gadgets in his arms.

"I wanted to test these out! It's my latest project that I've been working on" Tails explained. He showed the gadgets to his friends. They turned out to be wrist communicators.

"Aren't those the communicators that we used to keep in touch when we were looking for the chaos emeralds, during the war between the Meterex?" Amy asked.

"Not exactly" Tails said. He handed the two hedgehogs and echidna a wrist communicator each.

"I came up with the idea after the Meterex. They don't only let us communicate and locate the chaos emeralds, they also locate each other" Tails explained excitedly.

"I put a small tracking device in each of them so that when we want to find each other, they'll show you where everyone else is" Tails continued.

"So sort of like the chaos emerald locator thingy" Knuckles said putting the wrist communicator on.

"Not exactly, but something like that" Tails answered. He watched as Sonic and Amy put theirs on. Then the clever fox put one on himself.

"You've got spares" Sonic commented, noticing the extra four wrist communicators in Tails' hands.

"Well, I thought that there might be more people joining us on our next adventure or maybe one of us might lose ours or get it damaged…" Tails said.

"Fair enough" Sonic said with a shrug. He turned his on and pushed a few buttons, getting used to it.

"If we're finished, can you show me where these hidden 'tunnels' are?" Knuckles asked impatiently.

"Sure thing, Knuckle-head" Sonic said heading for the door.

"I'll fly us over to Angel Island. It'll be much quicker that way" Tails offered following his two friends.

"I guess I'll just go home-Oh no! I've forgotten! I was meant to go with Vanilla and Cream and cheese on a picnic!" Amy cried. She jumped off the couch and raced out the door. She shot past Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, almost running them over.

"Whoa, Amy!" Sonic cried in surprise as his pink friend shot past him.

"Sorry, Sonic!" Amy called over her shoulder and continued running.

"Where's she off to in such a hurry?" Knuckles wondered.

"I think she said something about Cream" Tails commented. The three heroes continued over to the Tornado and quickly jumped in. Tails started up the plane and took off.

oO0Oo

Hidden in the shadows of several trees, a pair of big blue eyes watched the plane fly on its course to the famous floating island.

The creature, of which the two eyes belonged to, looked down at its hands to a small hand-held device that had super sonic hearing. The creature had heard the whole conversation that had just taken place between the four Sonic heroes.

"This should be easy" the creature thought and continued to watch the plane soar through the blue sky.

* * *

><p>Well, that's another chapter over and done with, thanks everyone for reading! Sorry that this chapter was more about Sonic, but I needed to get this part in, and while I was at it a small glimpse of a new character, who is not my own. You could probably guess who though.<p>

If you don't mind, please, please review! I need to know what I should add, if I'm losing the interest of my readers, etc. I'll appreciate it a lot if you press the blue button to the bottom of the page. Thanks again for reading everyone!


	3. Chapter 3:Under Attack!

**Hello again! I've finally finished another chapter! Thank-you everyone for all your reviews! When I checked to see how many I got I almost fell off my seat; 20 REVIEWS AND ONLY 3 CHAPTERS! (Well technically two) Thank-you everyone for sticking with me and putting up with my pointless blabbing. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and thanks for waiting!**

**Shadow and Maria belong to Sega, but the Rophiicks belong to me!**

**Hope you love it…**

Chapter Three- Under Attack!

"Attention all passengers, we are currently one hour and thirty minutes from our next destination: Mobius. We will be landing shortly on the Western side of the planet" The captains voice echoed throughout the ships P.A system and could be heard from every part of the ship.

In the last floor/level of the Foreigner, Shadow stood, eyes closed and facing a window. The black hedgehog was thinking of a way to get back to Earth, his original home. An urgent feeling inside of him needed to be there, he couldn't put his finger on it, but the black hedgehog was sure it had something to do with the A.R.K, or perhaps someone who had to do with the A.R.K.

'Maria'. The faintest thought of that girl sent an aching pain through his heart and mind. The memory of his last moments with her flashed through his mind.

'Why do I feel such grief over this, Maria? I barely remember her, and yet, I had spent most of my past with her.' Shadow let out a frustrated sigh.

"I've so many questions, and no way of finding any answers. Perhaps it's best if I tried to forget about her' the red-striped hedgehog decided. He tried to keep his mind focused on something else, but every few minutes, his thoughts would return to Maria.

Finally Shadow gave up trying.

'Why can't I just get over her?' Shadow opened his eyes to gaze at the stars. He knew forgetting Maria would not be so easy, nor would his questions cease to stop taunting him.

'If only there was a way to bring her back-No. It isn't possible. She's gone. There's no point wishing for something I can't have again.' The aching sadness seemed to grow. It was almost too much for Shadow to bear.

"Anything is possible Shadow."

The black hedgehog whipped around, startled. His ruby-red eyes searched the Cargo Hold for the source of the voice. It had sounded like it was spoken in his head, like a clear thought; and yet it seemed to echo throughout the Cargo Hold.

"Who's there?" Shadow growled. His voice echoed off the metallic walls. When nothing happened, Shadow turned around to face the window again.

'I could've sworn there was someone there. It sounded like… a girl's voice... like Mari-' Shadow cut himself off and stared angrily at the stars.

'If I want to stop thinking about her, then maybe I should try not to mention-or even think her name.'

"Don't worry Shadow; your suffering will end soon." Shadow whipped around again.

"That voice!" he hissed, but before he could do anything else…

**BANG!**

The whole ship rocked as a great explosion rang out. Startled cries sounded from levels above.

Shadow turned to the window again to see a large battle ship approaching quickly.

"Attention all passengers, we're under attack! Please make your way to the emergency lock-down room immediately; repeat, please make your way down to the emergency lock-down room on level 38! All crew members, prepare for a counter attack!" the Captain's voice rang through out the ship. It was followed by another **BANG** and another shaking spree.

More screams from above. Shadow managed to stay on his feet. His sensitive ears detected the sounds of the passengers making their way to another part of the ship. With a small hand gesture, the green chaos emerald appeared in the onyx hedgehogs' gloved hand.

"Chaos control"

Shadow disappeared from the cargo hold and reappeared on top of the Foreigner, the chaos emerald disappeared after another small hand gesture. His ruby-coloured eyes continued to watch the attacking battleship as it fired its weapons again, also launching five smaller battleships.

Several cannons on top of the Foreigner adjusted their aim and fired a few missiles. The noise was deafening, but the onyx hedgehog barely flinched, as he had experienced much louder sounds before. Shadow's red eyes traced the missiles as they, somehow, gained speed the further they went. The approaching five ships did not slow as they soared closer towards the oncoming missiles; in fact they seemed to speed up, as if eager to be destroyed, but that is not to be, as the small ships expertly dodged the opposing missiles. Shadow's frown slightly deepened in thought.

'They appear to be excellent pilots. I would not expect them to go down easily' he thought to himself, as his eyes continued to follow the missiles as they continued their journey towards the mother ship. Shadow looked on, half expecting the large ship to maneuver out of the path of the missiles; instead his crimson eyes saw a shield flicker around the Mother ship. The missiles exploded, not even close to the warship. Shadow let out a frustrated sigh.

'Pathetic' he whispered under his breath. The enemy ships were almost within range of the Foreigner's cannons, which were now re-loading. Shadow let his head tilt 4 degrees to the side, his mind forming a plan.

The cannons finished re-loading. Shadow, in a flash (literally), positioned himself on one of the cannons' missiles. He prepared for the sudden launch that would fling him towards the quickly approaching ships. Shadow's eyes narrowed his body tense and ready to fight.

'Three…two…one' BANG! The cannons erupted in a series of ear-deafening explosions. Shadow was flung forward on his missile, gaining speed the further he travelled.

The five ships were getting closer by the second. Shadow kept his eyes on the closest one, coming right at him.

'Gotta time this right' the red-streaked hedgehog thought before leaping up and curling into a ball. He was a blur of red and black as he spin-dashed straight through the advancing ship. The ship exploded, Shadow was un-harmed as he landed on his missile again. The next two ships were almost upon him. In the blink of an eye, Shadow leaped up again and raised a gloved hand, glowing chaos energy quickly built up in his palm.

"Chaos Spear!" bolts of golden chaos energy burst from Shadow's hand as he swiped it diagonally down. The two oncoming ships were too close to avoid the shower of spears in time, and exploded in a burst of intensifying heat. Shadow's missile soared just out of reach of the explosion. Said hedgehog had once again landed on the missile, only to jump up once more into a spinning ball. The last two pilots of the five ships seemed to have lost their courage as they were slowing, as if hesitant. Shadow didn't give them any time to act. He burst tore through the two ships, one after the other. Using the light of the explosion to find his missile again, Shadow landed in a crouched position.

Behind him, the other missiles were flying quickly, gaining momentum as they began to approach the last enemy ship. As they got closer and closer, Shadow's frowning eyes saw the battleship's shield flicker on.

'Hmph. As if that's going to stop me' he thought arrogantly. With a small wave of his hand, the green chaos emerald appeared in his gloved palm. Shadow let the emeralds' power flow into his body; he could feel the all-too-familiar power strengthen more and more. It soon created a soft, red aura around him.

The missiles were quickly shortening the distance between them and the flickering shield. When they were about several hundred kilometres away, Shadow jumped up one last time into a spin-dash and immediately started spinning.

'It all depends on this hit' Shadow thought. Faster and faster he spun, further away from the missiles and closer to the shield. Shadow continued to absorb the chaos emeralds power, making him spin harder and faster. The shield was less than a mile away. Shadow shot towards it, still spinning. Before you could say 'emerald', there was a loud 'KA-BOOOOOMMM!' as Shadow hit the shield. His homing attack was too powerful for the weak shield and it disappeared, leaving the enemy ship exposed for more attacks. In the distance, the Foreigner fired more missiles, as did the attacking ship. Shadow's spin-dash ended as he crashed into the enemy ship with a great explosion, leaving a rather massive hole in the tough metal ship.

The missiles followed in pursuit and managed to do a little damage to great ship. Shadow quickly recovered from his great attack and continued to launch smaller attacks on the great ship. Being at such a close range, the enemy ship used smaller weapons to fire at Shadow, but the epic hedgehog' speed and agility kept him from getting hit.

"Chaos Spear!" another shower of blinding chaos energy was sent into one of the ships' main engines. The engine erupted in a fire show of light. Shadow quickly chaos controlled out of the way of the intense heat and fired another series of chaos spears along the top side of the battle ship, destroying several cannons in the process.

**Inside enemy ship**

A green dinosaur-like creature left his cannon station, as it had just been destroyed. He ran to his Commander.

"Sir, the starboard cannons have just been destroyed!" the Rophiick reported in a scared tone. His black armor had protected most of his lizard-like body.

The Commander hissed in annoyance.

'First the shield, then the strategist room and the 4th engine and now the starboard cannons! What next?' The Commander wondered whilst trying to think of something to counterattack the target ships' attacks. Just as he'd thought to send out a team of the Squabbler robots, another Rophiick approached him.

"Sir, we're losing our main engines and the ships' armor is going to fail us if these attacks keep up!"

The Commander growled.

'If we continue, we will surely be destroyed. I've no other choice.'

"Retreat, turn the ship around!" Commander Azeel ordered. Several Rophiicks who'd heard the order quickly rushed to different stations.

"Lord Gizoe will not be pleased" Azeel thought to himself, unwillingly walking towards his master's quarters to report the unpleasant news to his master.

**Shadow's Point Of View**

Shadow launched one last homing-attack. The amount of impact left a fairly large dent in the metal armor. Shadow slowly drifted back. He was panting heavily; the amount of energy he'd used had almost left him breathless, taking up almost half his stamina.

As the hedgehog looked over his 'work', his hands felt around his wrists where his golden inhibitor rings used to be. Those rings had stopped him from using his power all in one go. Shadow had lost them when he'd last helped save the Universe.

The Ship's engines roared as the big battleship slowly turned to retreat. Shadow floated, watching the ship until it was a good distance away before turning to see where the Foreigner had gone. The heavily damaged ship was hurriedly drifting away, towards a small blue dot, Mobius. The chaos emerald appeared in Shadow's gloved hand again. Focusing on the power, the Ultimate Life form allowed the chaos energy flow into him. It soothed the weakened hedgehog, healing him and returning his energy levels back to normal. When he had enough power, Shadow held the chaos emerald up,

"Chaos Control!" In a flash of yellow light, the crimson-striped hedgehog disappeared and re-appeared on top of the Foreigner. Standing in his usual 'arms crossed' position, the silent hedgehog kept his eyes on the ships' destination.

.oO0Oo.

**Back on Rophiick ship**

Commander Azeel was making his way to his Master's chambers. The report of their defeat did not make the Commander very eager. Lord Alarik would not like the news, for he was not one to be defeated so easily. Azeel tried not to think about the punishment that would await him. A punching bag was not a very happy thought. After taking several more twists and turns, the Rophiick finally arrived at the door of Lord Alarik's chambers. Squashing his fear, Commander Azeel entered his Master's presence. The room was dark; all Rophiicks preferred the dark more than the light. There was also a large viewing window. Staring outside of the window was Lord Alarik. The Rophiick was a dark shade of red. His horns and back spikes were black along with his eyes. The black armor he wore was almost completely covered by a black cape. Azeel kneeled before his Master.

"For what reason do you interrupt my thought?" Lord Alarik demanded in a low hissing voice.

"My Lord, forgive me, but I bring a report of the attack" Azeel said managing to keep the fear out of his voice. Alarik remained silent, waiting for his Commander to continue.

"We were forced to retreat as our target was stronger than we thought. They got through the shield and damaged the ship. I do not think we can repair the amount of damage by ourselves" Commander Azeel reported. Lord Alarik turned from the window to stare at the Rophiick. He took a few steps towards the Commander.

"How did the shield fail?" Alarik hissed, his voice sounded calm but deadly. Azeel could hear the anger in it; he tried not to tremble.

"I do not know sir. The Foreigner fired only steel lined weapons. The shield has never failed before, I don't know how they managed to break through it" Azeel answered; the fear he felt was showing in his voice.

"THIS IS UNACEPTABLE! NEVER HAVE I BEEN DEFEATED SO EASILY!" Lord Alarik shouted while striking his trembling Commander. After releasing his anger, Alarik composed himself and turned to face his window again. Azeel lay trembling on the metal floor.

"How soon can the repairs be completed?" Lord Alarik asked.

"It may take at least three days, my lord" Azeel said. He had returned to his position of kneeling. His mind still trying to get around the fact he'd been let off so easily.

"That is not good enough! I must obtain the key before the comet passes!" Alarik went silent again, deep in thought.

'If I'm to return home in time, I cannot afford to stop for so long. I've no choice but to re-group with Lord Tryant. I've been ordered to meet up with him anyways. He will help me with my repairs and then we can formulate a plan to obtain both the energy source and the Key." Turning once more to his Commander, Alarik gave him the orders to set their course for Master Tryant's ship. Commander Azeel hurriedly left his Master to his thoughts.

'How could steel missiles impenetrate the shield? It's harder than diamond. Perhaps it was not the missiles. The Key of Chaos was on that ship. Could it have been powerful enough to break through it and have enough energy to attack my ship? It is possible, but how could anything have that much chaos power?' Lord Alarik continued to ponder the possibility of so much power. With it the Rophiicks would be unbeatable! They could finally achieve their goal and rule the Universe!

"Nothing will stop us!" Alarik smiled a twisted smile.

* * *

><p><strong>At last! Chapter Three is finished! This is 11 pages long! I was going to add more but then decided against it. I wanted to get this chapter up as soon as possible so I didn't bother proof-reading, although I know I should have. Sorry if you find any errors. My favourite part in this chapter was when Shadow showed us a glimpse of his pure AWESOMENESS! Hope you enjoyed it and I hope you review!<strong>

**T.T.F.N (Ta Ta For Now)**

**SierraZanimalini14**


	4. Chapter 4 Lots of Courage to Post This

HELLO! I know it's been ** Y** over a year or two since my last update, and since then I have been giving my writing some serious thought as well as some of my own original ideas, and as I've been giving most of my focus to my own original ideas, I've been neglecting all the stories I've thus far published on FFNet, BUT I've also been working on my writing skills a bit and thinking more deeply on how I could improve my writing as I felt I strongly should. I've been looking into depth about the characters: what they feel, what they've been through and what they think because of what they've been through, and the significance of every scene that occurs. From all this thinking and practice I've come to really wanting to start most of the few stories I've put up for you all to read. Now I know you're going to start feeling something hideous and you might even start thinking of lines like 'if I ever discover your real identity I'm going to…' well, thank goodness for the internet and socialising media without truly socialising. So I'll be re-writing this idea and I'll post my new prologue in a couple of days as I wait for everyone to read this terribly disappointing confession that's really sounding more like a jumble of excuses… so umm… in my defence I'd like to think that it's been so long since anyone's read my story that you won't really remember what the previous chapters were about… so… yeah. I was going to try and get this all out in a script type style but then I'd have been copying one of my friends, but I thought better of it and decided to tell you as plain and, er, simple as I could and there you go. I'll be surprised if you read this to the end and I'll award you the title of PERSERVERER. So congratulations! _and thank-you for your gracious patience._

F.D.T.A (Few Days That's All) and i'll update again.

Quillink14


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